Current Docket Litigation Cases

Case Name: Single v. Cathedral Pioneer Church Homes

Court: Superior Ct., State of Cal., County of Sacramento Docket: 2017-00220058

Filed: 1/3/2023

Read: Order granting declaratory relief, Press Release, Article

Case Result: Court held that a nursing facility’s refusal to accept a resident back from the hospital “constitutes an involuntary transfer under state and federal law” and triggers an obligation to follow legal requirements for discharging a resident.

Case Name: John Doe #1, et al. v. Alden Group Ltd, et al.

Court: Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois Docket: 2022-CH-09574

Filed: 9/27/2022

Read: Press Release, Complaint (PDF), Chicago Tribune (Article)

Case Issue: Does the Alden Group and its facilities neglect residents and put them at risk of harm by failing to provide care that meets the residents’ needs through systematic and intentional understaffing in violation of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act?

Case Name: Jones v. Austin Industries

Court: EEOC Charge No.: 2022-440-07338

Filed: 7/18/2022

Read: Article (AARP), Article (Reuters)

Case Issue: Does Austin’s wellness program, which imposing an insurance surcharge of up to $2400 per year for nonparticipation, violate Americans with Disabilities Act and Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act requirements that such programs be voluntary?

Case Name: Single v. Catholic Pioneer Church Homes

Court: Superior Ct., State of Cal., County of Sacramento Docket: 2017-00220058

Order: 04/19/2022

Read Decision Ruling (4/15/2021), Press Release, Original Press Release, Complaint (PDF), MSA Order (4/19/2022)

"Her Son Says She Was a Victim of Nursing Home Dumping," by Jessica Ravitz, the case story about Gloria Single. Read

Case Issue: Can a nursing facility refuse to readmit a resident who has exercised her administrative due process rights and won the right to readmission?

Case Name: Alexander v. Harris

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Maryland. Docket:8:22-cv-00707

Read: Amended Complaint (PDF), Press Release, Listen/Read, to SVP William A. Rivera Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Article)

Filed: 03/22/2022

Case Issue: Can 5000 current and former pastors, clergy, and other employees of the African Methodist Episcopal Church recover $90 million lost from their retirement accounts due to gross financial mishandling?

Case Name: Kwesell v. Yale University

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Conn. Docket: 3:19-cv-01098

Read: Complaint (PDF), Article, WNPR Listen/Read, Press Release

Update: Achieved settlement subject to court approval.

Filed: 7/16/2019

Case Issue: Is a wellness program that fines employees $1,300. per year for refusing to reveal medical and genetic information and submit to medical examinations "voluntary" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

Case Name: Fair Housing Justice Center v. Hochul

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. NY (Southern Dist.) Docket: 18-civ-3196

Settlement: 12/22/2021

Read Complaint (PDF), Press Release (PDF), and Opposition Brief (PDF), Settlement Agreement (PDF), Press Release settlement

Case Issue: Does a blanket prohibition barring users of wheelchairs from living in Adult Care Facilities regulated and funded through New York State's Department of Health violate the Fair Housing Act, the ADA, and other civil rights laws?

Case Name: Stephanie Price v. Shibinette

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. New Hampshire Docket: 21-00025

Decision on Motion to Dismiss: 11/18/2021

Read Complaint (PDF), Press Release, Article, Decision on Motion to Dismiss (PDF), Press Release on Motion to Dismiss, Article on Motion

Case Issue: Does the failure of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to provide personal care and other services to people with disabilities under the state’s Choices for Independence Waiver program, that puts them at risk of needing to be institutionalized, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act or other federal law?

Case Name: Brown v. Becerra

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. CD Cal. Docket: 21-00511

Filed: 1/19/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment: 7/20/2021, Decision 11/17/2021

Read Complaint (PDF), Press Release, Motion for Summary Judgment (PDF), Decision (PDF)

Case Result: The court granted our request to remand and vacate HHS’s unlawful approval of a California Medicaid state plan amendment that cut reimbursement rates for periodontal care and instituted burdensome and potentially dangerous pre-authorization and x-ray processes for institutionalized patients.

Case Name: Shakespeare v. Live Well Financial (consumer)

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. ED N.Y. (U.S. Ct. App. Second Circuit) Docket: 18-7299 (20-3533)

Filed in District Court: 12/21/2018 Decision in Appellate Court: 5/26/2021

Read Complaint (PDF) and Press Release (PDF) Press Release (Spanish),

Decision in U.S. Ct. App. 2d Cir. (PDF)

Issue in the U.S. District Court ED N.Y.: Did Live Well Financial and Celink violate reverse mortgage contracts and applicable law by prepaying property taxes of older homeowners without legal authority and without notice, and then wrongfully demanding repayment out of personal funds?

Case Result from the U.S. Ct. App. Second Circuit: The Second Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of the claims against Celink and remanded the case to the district for further proceedings. The court also affirmed the dismissal of the claims against Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC.

Case Name: Rabin v. PricewaterhouseCoopers

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. ND Cal. Docket: 16-02276

Order for Final Approval of Settlement: 2/4/2021

Read Complaint, Press Release, Order for Final Settlement Approval, Proposed Collective & Class Action Settlement, (PDF) Article - Bloomberg "Daily Labor Report"

Case Issue: Do PwC's hiring and related employment practices have the purpose and effect of disadvantaging and deterring older applicants for entry- and mid-level jobs, in violation of federal and California age bias laws?

Case Name: National Consumer Voice v. Becerra, U.S. Dep't Health and Human Services

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. D.C. Docket: 21-162

Filed: 1/18/2021

Read Complaint (PDF), Opening Press Release, Article, Press Release (7/28/2021, CMS reversal on penalties)

Case Issue: Can CMS and HHS change the structure of enforcement by imposing only per instance fines instead of per day fines for nursing facilities who violate the Nursing Home Reform Act but correct that noncompliance prior to state survey agencies reviewing their compliance?

Case Name: Chancellor Senior Management v. McGraw

Court: West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Docket: 20-0794

Filed: 11/6/2020

Case Issue: Did the lower court err in denying Chancellor's Motion to Compel Arbitration? Are arbitration provisions incorporated into the residency agreement of an assisted living facility resident enforceable despite their noncompliance with the AHLA rules designated to govern them?

Case Name: Hartshorne v. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York

Court: New York Supreme Ct., Schenectady County Docket: 2019-1989

Filed: 9/10/2019 Motion to Dismiss Decided: 7/15/2020

Read Complaint (PDF), Press Release, Corp Opposition Brief (PDF), Church Opposition Brief (PDF) Decision/Order on Motion (PDF) and Press Release on Motion, Decision on Appeal (PDF), Press Release on Appeal

Case Issue: Did the Defendants, including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, violate New York state laws concerning contracts, promises, and fiduciaries when they either stopped paying or drastically reduced the pensions of former employees of St. Clare's Hospital?

Case Name: Brookdale Senior Living v. Weir

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. WD North Carolina Docket: 20-00293

Filed: 5/26/2020

Read Complaint (PDF) and Article

Case Issue: Does the arbitration agreement signed by Jean Howard, a former resident of a Brookdale Senior Living facility, allow for class-wide arbitration? And does the agreement require this question to be decided by an arbitrator, instead of a judge?

Case Name: Gunza v. Brookdale Senior Living

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. MD Tenn. Docket: 20-00353

Filed: 4/24/2020

Read Complaint (PDF) and Article

Case Issue: Did Brookdale deceive class members in violation of state consumer protection statutes when it promised to provide care based on residents' assessed care needs but, in reality, provided care based on pre-determined profit goals set by the company's headquarters?

Case Name: Bright v. Brookdale Senior Living

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. EMD Tenn Docket: 19-cv-00374

AARP Joined: 8/14/2019

Read Complaint (PDF)

Case Name: Brown v. District of Columbia

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. D.C. Docket: 10-02250

Filed: 8/13/2019

Case Update: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (PDF) filed March 9, 2022

Case Issue: Does the District of Columbia have an adequate Olmstead plan in place? If not, is it unreasonable for the Court to demand that it provide transition services to all people in nursing facilities who want to move to the community and make public report about its commitment to deinstitutionalize nursing facility residents?

Case Name: Brown v. District of Columbia

Court: U.S. Ct. App. D.C. Cir. Docket: 17-7152

Decided: 7/5/2019

Read Announcement, Opening Brief (PDF), Appellant's Reply Brief (PDF) and Opinion (PDF)

Case Result: The D.C. Circuit Court found that the lower court erred by not requiring that D.C. prove that it cannot place Plaintiff class into the community from nursing facilities. The case was remanded to the trial court where D.C. must now prove that it has an effectively working Olmstead plan or prove that it cannot reasonably serve our client in the community.

Case Name: Gish (Matter of the Estate) v. Wells Fargo Bank

Court: New Mexico State Ct., Santa Fe Cty. Docket: D-101-PB-2015-00006

Read Amended Complaint (PDF) Answer to Amended Complaint (PDF) First Amended Counterclaim (PDF)

AARP Joined as Co-Counsel: 6/21/2018

Case Issue: Did Wells Fargo violate state and federal law when it originated a reverse mortgage loan that cost a borrower more than the loan for which the applicant applied and was approved; did Wells Fargo have standing to foreclose on the loan?

Case Name: McGraw v. Chancellor Senior Management, LTD

Court: Circuit Ct., Raleigh County, WV Docket: 16-C-698

AARP Joined Case: 10/16/2017

Read Complaint (PDF)

Case Issue: Are Chancellor's practices of marketing certain levels of services, assessing care needs at admission, and charging fees based on those needs; but then, failing to have sufficient staff to actually meet those needs unfair or deceptive acts or practices under West Virginia's consumer protection statute?

Case Name: Raymond v. Spirit AeroSystems

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Kansas Docket: 16-cv-01282

Filed: 7/11/2016

Read Press Release and Complaint

Case Issue: In conducting a reduction-in-force, did the aerospace company target older workers in the hope of eliminating individuals with costly medical claims from the firm's self-insured medical plan?